Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 4th, 2024–Dec 6th, 2024

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

Another warm day is forecast for Thursday! In the long term this will help our snowpack but in the short term its pretty rugged travel out there at this time! Thin areas around the stiffer windslabs should be treated as suspect and avoided. Patience, lots of winter left!

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been observed today.

Snowpack Summary

Well, not much be a changing out there right now. Wind slabs are present in more specific features in the alpine such as lee features and cross loaded slopes/gullies. Approach the alpine with this in mind. The height of snow varies from 40cm of facets to 70cm of more consolidated snow. Early season hazards are all over the place at all elevations. The October crust is close to the ground and has started to break down with facets just above it. This is our layer of concern and would provide a good sliding layer if triggered at the right spot. Thin areas are likely places wherein you could trigger an avalanche right now. These might be at the sides of gullies or edges of slopes. Keep this in mind as you travel!

Weather Summary

Another warm day is forecast for Thursday with a freezing level forecast to be around 2200m with generally light winds out of the west. No new snow is in the forecast until the weekend! Check weather stations for the presence of an inversion in the morning.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Avoid steep terrain that is rocky and thin.
Pay attention to isolated wind affected features in the alpine, as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.